Which model should I choose from Canon SX230HS and ELPH 310HS (US Models)

[sachinsinghal]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for a good point and shoot camera for me and some family members. I have researched on some Canon cameras (interested in Canon only) and finally decided based on my needs and budget that I should pick from either of these two:

Canon SX 230 HS
Canon ELPH 310 HS

I live in Japan so my models will definitely be 'authentic' "Made in Japan" only (just in case it helps you frame your answer). For the convenience of you guys, I have provided the above links for the equivalent USA models since links from any Japan site would be in Japanese.

Here is the comparison chart between the two cameras from Canon US Site:

Comparison b/w SX230HS and ELPH310HS

One noticeable difference I can see between the two models is the Aperture. SX230HS has f/3.1 (W) - f/5.9 (T) and ELPH310HS has f/3.0 - f/5.9. (I am not a professional photographer so really don't know whether the difference of f3.1 and f3.0 is hardly considerable).

Other important difference (could be very imp) is you can manually set aperture and shutter speed in SX230HS while this can't be done in ELPH310HS.

Trade-offs for me:
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I am fine with following trade-offs:

1. Even ELPH310HS does not provide manual control over shutter speed and aperture setting, I am fine with this set if this is really superior in picture quality than SX230HS. If both cameras carry exactly same image quality then I would love to see manual shutter and aperture features in my cameras. (Oh! I forgot to add that both cameras come in same price in Japan).

2. I am not much bothered about SX230HS having flash on its top point where we generally keep first finger of our left hand. If SX230HS is really better than ELPH310HS in everything I am ok with this trade-off.

Looking for an expert advice from such great experienced users and professionals. I would highly appreciate that.

Thanks a lot!
Sachin